<606 – Delicious Linked Quest (30)>
The Great Prison holds all kinds of criminals, ranging from minor offenders to the continent’s great evils.
But it’s not like just breathing allows you to set up your own territory and have a hit on other inmates. You can’t just hang out with the snack bar’s black bread thief, right?!
Naturally, the Great Prison has different levels of risk for different criminals confined in it.
“You know that knowledge how…? No, never mind. It’s probably information gathered by the Foundation Scholarship Students through their personal experiences of being locked up.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“So how is that risk level determined?”
“By the size of the fine!”
“Fine?”
“Basically, all inmates can earn their freedom by paying fines! The tier of confinement depends on the original fine amount!”
“Ugh. That obsession with points.”
Ishtar seemed tired of the topic since she had a lot of bad memories linked to points, starting from the uninhabited island auction.
“So how deep is Jonnas in?”
“I’m not sure, but since he’s in for serious crimes, it sounds like he’s in pretty deep!”
“Then let’s hurry past the entrance. Standing around in the prison hallway makes me feel kinda anxious.”
“Gulp. Should I give you a disguise outfit?”
“A disguise outfit?”
“If your identity gets discovered later, wearing a disguise might help hide who you are!”
“Hmm… Not a bad idea.”
Since Ishtar suddenly became interested in the disguise outfit, I began to pull out various clothing items I had collected from the capital.
“The first one is a cheongsam!”
“…How is that a disguise outfit?”
“Nobody would think a warrior would wear a side-slit cheongsam, right?”
“Absolutely not. Walking around with my thighs exposed? That’s too embarrassing. I’d rather wear a school uniform than be exposed in such an improper outfit!”
“Ugh. Failed that one.”
“Did you just click your tongue?! You intentionally gave me the weird clothes to mess with me, didn’t you?!”
This is why I dislike sharp-minded warriors!
To shut her mouth, I quickly pulled out the second disguise.
“Then the second one is a maid outfit!”
“Are you kidding?! I asked for a disguise outfit, not a cosplay costume!”
“What’s wrong with a maid outfit? A maid can pull off any look anywhere!”
“Lies. Why would a maid be needed in the Great Prison?”
“To do the cleaning, of course!”
“That’s a job for the guards or prisoners!”
“Always saying this can’t work, that can’t work. Total old-fashioned thinking!”
“Do you really want to get hit?”
Upon hearing “old-fashioned,” Ishtar clenched her fists.
Honestly, even with my current specs, it would hurt to get hit by her. So, I proposed the next disguise.
“How about a guard outfit that fits the Great Prison?”
“Finally, you suggested something plausible. But… why does this size look like that?”
Ishtar, holding the disguise outfit, showed a perplexed expression.
The top was nearly short-sleeved and showed her belly button, while the bottom barely covered her thighs.
“It’s children’s size.”
“What? Then aren’t you the one who should wear it?”
“Correct!”
“…Why did you show me this?”
“To show off?”
Ishtar’s fiery fist struck my head.
As I held my forehead in pain, her hand swiftly rummaged through my bag, searching for the keyword
Bear pajamas.
Mini nun outfit.
Shark costume.
Hollow alcohol barrel.
Hollow box.
Hollow lantern.
Hollow paulownia.
“…Totally useless.”
“Aww, give me back my collection!”
“Not happening. What do you need to beg for?”
Ishtar selected a much simpler method.
She was going to knock out the first guard we encountered in the hallway and steal their guard outfit.
“…Do I really need to hide in that hollow barrel too?”
“I mean, I’m wearing the guard outfit while hiding in the barrel!”
The bottom of the barrel was hollowed out so that when sitting, she could hide, but could also walk when standing!
Dressed in school uniforms with Ishtar in a barrel, we walked through the prison hallways, causing the prisoners to stare at us in curiosity and fear.
“What is that? Scary…”
“Are they escapees?”
Seeing the cowardly prisoners, Ishtar smirked and used Mind Link to secretly send me a telepathic message.
– How much is that fine?
– In Level 1, it’s folks with fines under ten thousand points, usually locked up for ten days or so! Mostly black bread thieves, toilet fee collectors, or TAs who spoke harshly to professors!
– They’re brought to the Great Prison for pretty pathetic reasons.
I still understood the TAs’ predicament.
How would a second-year newbie know their desperate desire just to escape the research lab?
Sometimes you just want to spend time in prison.
– We’re in Level 2. How are those people?
– Fines from ten thousand to a hundred thousand points, maximum incarceration of a hundred days! Caught cheating in exams, seniors caught selling doping drugs to juniors, and TA bastards who sold questions for midterms or finals are mostly locked here!
– Their crimes are definitely worse. But why are TAs punished so lightly?
– Professors don’t like to keep their slaves locked up for too long!
– …Slaves?
Even though the Great Prison had its own security force, it was surprisingly quiet here, as no veteran players seemed to be tampering with the protective spells.
The hallway was slightly narrower than Level 1, and the prisoners in the shared rooms began to show interest in Ishtar.
Some started casting curious glances at me.
“What’s with that barrel? Why does it have legs?”
“I kind of want to kick it and roll it over.”
“…That’s actually a good idea!”
As I leaned out of the barrel to express admiration, the prisoners clinging to the iron bars gasped and fell back in surprise.
“Yikes! So scary!”
“The Dark Princess is out!”
“Oh? Do you know her?”
A prisoner in a Level 2 shared room acknowledged me.
“Do you not remember me?”
“Who are you?”
“We took the same class!”
“I took so many classes last year that I can’t remember them. Which class did we have together?”
“The lecture on God’s Wrath by Professor Weird. You always sat behind me, third seat from the left!”
“How could I not know you?!”
I thought they’d feel hurt for not recognizing their best friend, but it turned out we weren’t that close at all.
“Since we took the same class, isn’t it better to be friends? Huh? If you cause a ruckus and attract the guards, could you spare me a few points?”
“What got you locked up?”
“I got caught stealing stones from the stone bridge leading to the pavilion because I was short on materials for building bridges in the second-year architecture class!”
“Seems like you’d typically get into Level 3 for that, but why just Level 2?”
“Turns out some seniors stole the stones before me, so when I took one, the bridge collapsed before I could be punished for it… Thanks to that, I got my sentence reduced for avoiding a potential human casualty.”
If Nepher-tem hadn’t been involved, there would have been at least ten dead, so fate had indeed smiled upon him.
“That’s pretty unfortunate! Let me help you a little.”
“Thanks! …But why are you fiddling with the lock?”
“I engraved a spell that’ll release the lock in about an hour. Watch for your chance to escape!”
“Why would I need to escape?! If I get caught doing that, I’d face harsher penalties! Just send me the points I need for parole!”
“But I have to dive deeper into the Great Prison to escape! If I don’t create an event to lure the guards away, I’ll be the one at a loss!”
“Can’t you take that time bomb-like releasing spell back instead…?”
“I’m a good veteran who cannot refuse a newbie’s call for help. Anyway, I’m here to assist!”
“Hey, you’re such a brat! It’s not needed! Hey, where are you going? Come back please!”
Ignoring my frantic call, she headed down to Level 3, and Ishtar sent me a telepathic message.
– Aren’t you being a bit too mean?
– It’s revenge for asking for points after doing something wrong! People like her, once they graduate from the academy, will probably ask me to endorse them for a business.
– Is that so? When you put it that way, it sounds like karma in action.
Unlike the upper layers which had loose and easy security, Level 3 was a serious mid-level facility designed to house notorious criminals and featured many magic traps.
– The atmosphere is different in Level 3.
– These are actual criminals with fines below a million points and sentences exceeding a thousand days! Think of murderers from lower years, masterminds behind large-scale fraud cases, abusers of advanced magic, and strong members of small-to-medium crime groups delivering mana as experimental materials!
– …They’re really bad people, huh?
As Ishtar walked with her cold gaze cast over the prison, she suddenly stopped.
– That prisoner looks oddly familiar…
– Oh wow, you’re right!
A senior that no one could forget from the Class 981 was tucked away in a four-person cell.
“Excuse me, are you the Contract Scammer Senior?”
“…Dark Princess? What are you doing in that barrel?”
“And what are you doing stuck there?”
Senior Velocasio frowned dramatically and sighed.
“Transfer students collected information to show results to the student council and then turned me into them. Such bad kids. I’ve never deceived them, yet they’re still bad kids!”
“…”
– Isn’t that just karma?
– Sounds about right!
– Let’s just go.
As Ishtar lost interest and hurried off, trying to roll along beside me in that barrel, Velocasio quickly called me back.
“Wait a moment!”
“If you say ‘wait a moment,’ it’s common sense to stop! Do you have a good deal to propose?”
“Why are two students wandering around the prison without a guard?”
“We’re just here for a field trip!”
“Do you really think a suspiciously dressed student would go on a field trip? Hand over points now. If you don’t give me enough for my release, I’ll call the guards!”
“…”
Ishtar looked at Senior Velocasio with eyes filled with pity.
